🔴 HIGHintel

Intel Microcode CVEs - Ubuntu USN-7866-1 Privilege Risks

CVE-2025-20053, CVE-2025-20109, and others affect Intel Xeon processors via microcode flaws, enabling local privilege escalation and denial of service on Ubuntu systems (T1068). Ubuntu USN-7866-1 covers Ubuntu 16.04–25.10 with updated intel-microcode packages mitigating SGX, TDX, DDRIO, and alias checking issues. An authenticated attacker with local access could escalate privileges or crash servers.

🎯CORTEX Protocol Intelligence Assessment

Business Impact: Intel microcode CVEs can undermine hypervisor and confidential computing guarantees. Technical Context: These flaws affect SGX, TDX, and DDRIO protections, mapping to T1068 and T1499.

Strategic Intelligence Guidance

  • Deploy intel-microcode updates across Ubuntu servers.
  • Restrict shell access and enforce MFA for privileged users.
  • Monitor for kernel panics and anomalous privileged operations.
  • Isolate critical workloads from unpatched hardware.

CVEs

CVE-2025-20053CVE-2025-20109

Vendors

IntelCanonical

Threats

Intel microcode flaws

Targets

Ubuntu serversIntel Xeon CPUs